NORTHFIELD — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued $9.9 million worth of contracts to a nonprofit organization controlled by Vermont’s Norwich University to continue work on a cyber-warfare gaming system that helps financial institutions and others learn how to respond to computer attacks.

Last month, officials from Norwich and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy announced that Norwich’s Applied Research Institute had been chosen to receive the grant. Officials said that Tuesday it was official.

The institute’s Distributed Environment for Critical Infrastructure Decision-making Exercises program helps organizations recognize that something is happening to their computer networks and respond appropriately.

Advancements in the program will allow multiple organizations to take part in cyber-attack simulations. Earlier versions have already been used to simulate electronic attacks.